Female CEOs Support Paternity Leave

Last week, I wrote about a Miami Herald CEO Roundtable in which they asked various male and female CEOs about paternity leave. Did they feel it was important? Do they offer it?

The responses of the male CEOs was decidedly mixed. Ranging from the depressing:

I personally do not think male employees need a paternity leave option. Therefore, it is not something we offer.

*ugh*

To the hopeful:

Yes, male employees should have the option. Our company is pretty progressive when it comes to family leave. We offer paid maternity/paternity leave to our employees as needed. Many of our male employees, including myself, have young children and wives who work outside of the home, so we understand the importance of having such an option available to us.

*woohoo*

It seemed to me that the key differentiating factor for male CEOs was whether he had grappled with work-family balance challenges in his own life. Those who mentioned their own work-family juggle tended to be supportive. In contrast, those who seemed to have relied upon their at-home spouses while they went off to conquer the business world generally were not supportive.

For male executives, personal experience lent them a perspective that helped them realize the need to support working parents of both genders.

However, the female CEOs in the Miami Herald roundtable were uniform in their support for paternity leave. Perhaps because of their gender and personal experiences, they were more in tune with the need to support working dads. After all, support for working dads help moms both at work and at home. Here are some of the female CEOs responses:

Yes. It’s a win-win when companies support employees through life issues large and small. Our employee-driven workplace believes in allowing time off for both men and women.

Yes, of course; men are needed at home just as moms are at the start of a child’s life. We do offer it to our staff.

YES and YES. Parental leave is a critical need and benefit that is offered in every industrialized country EXCEPT the U.S. We need to support programs that support families and children to create a better society for all. My Canadian nephews all took 6 months off, of the one year that Canada offers for maternity leave, to bond with their babies and claim that it was the best experience of their lives. My son works for the Department of the Navy so he also took paternity leave and LOVED it! He needed it because he had premature twins that required weeks at the hospital and at home before he could leave his family with any confidence.

Yes, I believe male employees should be given that option and we do offer Child Care Leave for both men and women. Even more important than offering it, companies should strive to create a culture that encourages men to take advantage of that leave. Enabling fathers to take time to bond with and care for their new child benefits not only the home and family, but also the future of the mother’s career if she chooses to have one outside of the home.

What do you think about the views of male and female CEOs? Any stories to share? Let’s discuss in the comments.

Like the article? Think it would make for a good facebook, reddit or twitter conversation? Then please share it using the buttons below. You can also follow the blog via email, facebook or twitter. And, of course, remember to buy my book. Thanks!

Archives

Proud member of the Dad Bloggers group

Copyright and re-posting policy

- All original material and pictures Copyright 2012-16 Scott Behson. All other material used with permission.

- All writing here falls under my copyright, and I will assert my rights vigorously if my work is inappropriately used

-You are welcome to reblog or repost content from this site ONLY with permission or by properly citing me as the source of the content. You should use the following language (or something very similar) when reposting: Original content from the Fathers, Work and Family blog, www.fathersworkandfamily.com by Scott Behson, PhD. Originally published on [date].

- All original pictures protected under Creative Commons non-commercial use agreement with attribution.

- All pictures from others used under their respective creative commons permissions

- All opinions are my own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Fairleigh Dickinson University or any other organization I work with.

Sponsored content policy

I do not run paid posts, sponsored posts, advertorials or any other type of sponsored content. If I happen to write about a company, book, product or brand, it will always be my honest opinion, and will not have been influenced by money.

Guest content

I occasionally run guest content, mostly from readers and my personal/professional networks. However, guest posts must be specific to fathers' work-family issues, consistent with the tone and style of this blog, and must not be promotional in nature.
If you are interested in guest posting, please contact me and we can bat some ideas around.

Praise for The Working Dad’s Survival Guide

"If you're like most dads, you're facing an impossible tug of war between work and home. My advice? Read The Working Dad's Survival Guide. This smart, charming, and actionable guide offers a practical toolkit for thriving in both domains. You'll discover how to make family time more memorable, how to negotiate for work flexibility, and why you should pack at least one stuffed animal on every business trip. Behson is the rare writer who can communicate everything you need to know, while making you feel like you're just chatting over a beer with a good friend."
- Ron Friedman, PhD, author The Best Place to Work